Muntader al-Zaidi, a journalist, was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for the shoe throwing ordeal, charged with aggression towards a visiting head of state, a crime that carries a maximum 15 year jail sentence in Iraq.

Zaidi pleaded not guilty before Judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie, arguing that in that one moment, he was overcome with a brutal passion as he remembered the scores of civilians that had been killed in his home land, all because of Bush.

“I am innocent. It was a natural reaction to the crime of occupation…In that moment, I saw nothing but Bush, and I felt the blood of the innocents flowing under his feet while he was smiling that smile,” he said at the hearing, according to the New York Times.

The trial was set to take place a while ago, but was postponed while the judge took time to decide whether or not Bush’s trip to Iraq was an official visit. Since Bush spoke in the Green Zone which is controlled by American Military, it could be argued that his visit was not official. The judge however decided that the visit was official.

Zaidi was tried, oddly, in Iraq’s Central Criminal Court, a court set aside for major cases including terrorism. Zaidi’s lawyers – all 18 of them – said they would appeal the decision.

As Zaidi, who has been in prison since the incident, approached the courthouse before his hearing, scores of followers greeted him outside chanting “hero.”

It’s clear the Iraqi people don’t like the ruling.

Props to Bush for dodging those things like a pro.

Shoes are pretty taboo in the Arab world.  People won’t even cross their legs in an ankle-on-knee fashion in a public place, for fear of insulting the person beside them.

There was a photo of Bush a while ago, in an Iraqi city, where someone had placed two shoes at the top of his head to indicate devil horns.

And now, experts are telling the public “throwing a shoe at someone’s face is considered an insult in Islam.” As opposed to in America, where it is a sign of affection.

So El Presidente, for Iraqi’s (and some Americans, too), this guy is a hero. People are protesting for his release.

Palestinian journalists are now asking who will be brave enough to hurl a shoe at Condoleezza Rice.  We’ll see if she can duck as well as Bush.

Foreign affairs reporters have to be the coolest journalists out there.  They get to travel around the world covering the most newsworthy events.  She’s covered everything from this past U.S. election to human rights issues in Africa and Asia.

I talked to her about a whole host of things, but focused mainly on women’s rights.  She’s one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever spoken to, especially in regards to the the global standing of women.

It was a radio interview so I can’t really provide a transcript but I’ll give you the gist.

She wrote an article earlier this year ranking the 10 worst countries in which a woman can live.  On that list is Iraq, a country that before the U.S. invasion had some of the most liberal women’s rights views in the entire Arab world, and one of the highest female literacy rates among Arab countries.

Now, they have one of the worst.  Women are persecuted, raped at schools and some are completely segregated and socially subtracted.

She was talking about the situation there and it was pretty unbelievable.  It’s stuff you don’t really read about in the news.  It’s hardcore.  Stuff I couldn’t even imagine.

She told me about a meeting she had with two Congolese women who told her about some of the terrible things that take place in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

She had to pause, she couldn’t even put it in words.  Women are absolutely mangled in that country, some are even used as tactics of war.  Opposing forces will take women and sexually violate them as an act of war.

The U.N. recently declared sexual violence as an act of war, but what will come of that remains to be seen.

The bad thing is, the women can’t even report the rapes and violations.  They have no authority, no power.  They go unnoticed.

I’ve only ever read about things like this.  I knew they were happening but to hear them from someone who’s seen the aftermath first hand was a whole other thing.

Despite the United States recent economic woes, there is no doubt amongst serious observers that the country is still, by far the most powerful nation in the world. The United States military budget – which, I think it is fair to say, gets quite a bit of use – is astronomical. The U.S. accounts almost half of the world’s military spending, with the FY 2009 budget allocating more than $650 billion. To put this in perspective, the next highest spender is the United Kingdom with just over $50 billion. And the U.S. figures do not count the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan which are paid for with supplemental bills and have cost the nation hundreds of billions more over the last five years.

Further, the world economy, for better or worse (worse is the popular answer in 2008), is directly dependent on the U.S economy. Even though China, for example, continues to grow, they are only able to do so by sending 80 percent of their exports to the U.S. Now, as American consumers are becoming thrifty, or broke (or both), Chinese growth is in trouble.

Russia – China’s partner in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which many see as a blossoming counter to the US and NATO – is now losing out on all the revenues that they were getting from $147 barrels of oil. And this drop in oil occurred, at least in part, due to the massive deflation that has occurred since the US economy really hit the skids in September. Venezuela and Iran, two other oil-rich nations with hostile relations with the U.S, are facing the same problems as oil prices go down.

So why is this relevant to the 2008 election? It is a reminder of how important this election, and American policy in general, is to other parts of the world.

In Israel, for example, the right has expressed fears over an Obama presidency. While Obama has said all of the right things, and spoke in front of AIPAC when he finally won the primary, some in Israel are not sure he will be 1) as aggressive on Iran as a McCain or Bush Administration or 2) as willing to continue America’s unconditional (and totally unique) package in aid, which is at $3 billion, the most in the world. This is why the right started singing the “Obama-is-anti-Israel” tune when McCain fell sharply behind (as did Hillary Clinton when she was gasping for anything at the tail end of the divisive primary, which gives you a sense of how predictably low politicians can go when in trouble).

It is a fairly empty tale. Obama has toed the Party line with Israel, pledging continued and increased aid, and insisting that Iran poses a grave threat, despite the fact that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said the opposite.

Nonetheless, this election is watched with great interest from the Israeli right. To follow the coverage in Israel, I recommend, Haaretz, which is widely viewed as the “New York Times of Israel.”

Another country that must be watching with watchful eyes in Pakistan, especially given Obama’s expressed a willingness to bomb the country (which President Bush actually did recently).

Interestingly, Iraqis and U.S. soldiers may have less at stake that one might think. While Obama ran in the primary with anti-war rhetoric , his staff has acknowledged to the Wall Street Journal that he will leave around 35 – 45 thousands troops in the country. Given that a similar draw down is likely under a McCain Administration (though the exact timeline could vary), it appears that the War in Iraq will continue in a lesser fashion, no matter who wins. Still, if anyone wants to read an English language Iraqi newspaper, visit Azzaman in English.

Iranians, too, must be watching with great interest. While both McCain and Obama are willing to talk tough on Iran, Obama has a far more moderate (supported by many Republicans from the Bush I days, such as James Baker and Collin Powell) and reasonable stance on engaging in diplomacy. To read Iranian media visit Press TV and the Islamic Republic News Agency (both state-owned, for what its worth).

And of course, every country has a stake in the U.S. economy. As I listed above, the ramifications of the economic crisis are indeed global, and countries have been scrambling with bailout and stimulus packages, request for aid from the (US controlled) International Monetary Fund and the nationalizing of some banks.

Here, world public opinion is clear: Obama is the favorite for most of the world, which has grown deeply skeptical of U.S. economic policies, and gives most of the blame to Republicans.

Some other foreign news outlets:

The Daily Star (Lebanon)

Russia Today (Russia)

The Independent (United Kingdom)

Dar al Hayet (Saudi Arabia )

]]> http://blastmagazine.com/the-news/2008/11/the-world-is-watching/feed/ 0